The Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically escalated the food insecurity issue that affects nearly 7 million people in South Africa every day. In the lockdown, access to food has been restricted, and prices have risen significantly. To address this unprecedented situation, AAD-fund decided to partner with Renshia Manuel, founder of the social enterprise GrowBox, to establish a gardening area and fresh produce market. The Urban Farmers’ Market is a long-term solution to the economic and social effects Covid-19 has and will have on the local communities in Mitchel’s Plain township.
On December 5, 2020, Matthias Leridon, co-president of AAD-Fund and Renshia Manuel, CEO of GrowBox and AAD-Fund’s partner for Cape Town’s Resistances 2020 program, welcomed distinguished guests to the GrowBox Urban Farmers’ Market, located in the Hanover Park neighborhood in Cape Town.
After an outstanding performance by the Hanover Park Marching Band and an appetizing tour of the market garden area, guests enjoyed a stroll through the market stands and a breakfast prepared with fresh local produce.
A mural of the market’s logo was completed live at the event in front of dozens of guests, including Willie Bester and Daniel Halter, contemporary artists active in AAD’s GrowBox Art Project. The mural was a collaboration with the Baz-Art creative team, an organization that transforms spaces by creating, teaching, and developing art in all areas of South Africa. Several members of the Cape Town art scene were also present, along with some French officials, including Laurent Alberti from the French Consulate of Cape Town and Paul Cavalier, French Cultural Attaché in Cape Town.
The GrowBox Urban Farm team invites you to come and pick your own vegetables whenever you want!